{"id":46325,"date":"2017-10-10T18:05:47","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/?p=46325"},"modified":"2017-10-09T12:44:37","modified_gmt":"2017-10-09T10:44:37","slug":"one-mic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/gear\/one-mic\/","title":{"rendered":"One Mic To Rule Them All – Does it exist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you can tell from Thomann’s selection of microphones, there are many specialty mics out there for specific applications. But it is certainly nice to have two or three versatile mics that can cover various applications, if not all. If you are just starting to build up your gear setup then this might be a good place to start…\u00a0?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Considering the “All-Rounder”<\/h3>\n

The question quickly arises as to which microphone has the best all-round qualities. Many mics work well for vocals and spoken word but the guitar amp, acoustic guitar, woodwinds and brass instruments must also be recorded. Even drums can be recorded with a single microphone, if its placement is well studied.<\/p>\n

Most likely, ten out of ten technicians will give ten different answers to this question: “Which single microphone would you bring to a deserted island?”. What this mic should be able to do is debatable. Very characteristic mics, for example ones with tubes as impedance converters and output transducers\u00a0are a bit too “colourful” to be used for every source. The more neutral the better. Colour by harmonic distortion and the like can be added later if desired. Exceptions do exist: High quality tube mics, such as the Neumann M 149 Tube<\/a> or the Brauner VM1<\/a>, refine the sound, but above all do not interfere with the detail of the signal.<\/p>\n

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Switchable Flexibility<\/h3>\n

In order to be as flexible as possible, it is advisable to choose a mic with a polar pattern switch<\/strong>, one that can switch the mic’s directionality<\/strong> between cardioid<\/strong>, sub-cardioid, super-cardioid, hyper-cardioid, bidirectional<\/strong> and omnidirectional<\/strong>. Some microphones sound distinctly different depending on the pattern and this variety can be used consciously and strategically.<\/p>\n

It is almost always the case that double-diaphragm microphones, which allow such a switch-over, are large diaphragm microphones<\/a>. Among them are some with rather reserved sound and quite linear frequency response, like the Neumann TLM 170R<\/a>, the AKG C414 XLS<\/a> or the Audio-Technica AT4050<\/a>. These are not cheap microphones, and for a reason:\u00a0they can tolerate major changes in the mix well. This means that they should have a low noise and a late tug – over the entire frequency spectrum. This is rightly called a good “EQability<\/strong>” and “Compressability<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n\n\t\t